Here's Ron Paul: "On foreign aid, that should be the easiest thing to cut."

And Rick Perry said it's time to have a serious discussion about defunding the United Nations.

A common sentiment on the campaign trail, cutting foreign aid is frequently cited as a step toward solving the nation's budget woes.

True enough. But it would be a really tiny step.

Less than 1% of government spending goes to foreign aid, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. That's chump change compared to other sections of the bloated federal budget -- like spending on entitlement programs or the military.

But politicians still love to hate foreign aid. Part of the reason is that the American people do, too.